DEARBORN — Wistful fans of old-time boxing like to complain that modern fighters don’t fight enough, and in some respects, they may be right.

But for up-and-coming fighters like Dearborn’s Brian “The Lion” Mihtar, the next challenge is often only days away.

The 28-year old, 162-pound Mihtar just finished up a grueling stretch in which he fought twice in a span of eight days and four times in a span of 90 days. And thanks to his devastating punching power, his professional record is still unblemished at 8-0 with 7 knockouts.

Mihtar scored a first-round TKO over Philip McKechnie (1-1 record) at Eastern Michigan on October 26th, just eight days after he defeated his brother Francis (3-13) at Kewadin Casino in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan by second-round TKO.

While fighting against two brothers is uncommon in boxing, Mihtar had a score to settle because of a challenge issued by the McKechnie camp.

“The brothers were giving me quite a hard time,” Mihtar said. “Their whole camp was talking and they wanted to fight me.”

But from the minute he got into the ring with Francis McKechnie for the Fox Sports Network-televised fight, Mihtar knew he had him outclassed.

“I felt him out in the first round and he was looking for a one-punch knockout because he knew he wasn’t on my level,” said Mihtar.

Once the second round began, he went to work, hitting McKechnie with a right hook and a body shot before finishing him off with a double left hook. Mihtar is right-handed but considers his left hand to be his “bread-and-butter.”

The next fight at Eastern Michigan against Philip McKechnie was even less of a contest. Mihtar came in with a small cut under his eye after taking a small elbow shot in the first fight, but he still felt great overall. Once the fight began, however, he could tell that McKechnie wasn’t too confident and knew he had a good chance to win.

“He knew what he was in for,” said Mihtar. “Fighters can just tell.”

McKechnie began to repeatedly pull his head back, so Mihtar closed the gap with jabs before hitting him with a right hook that sent blood gushing down his nose. Another hook ended the fight at 1:43 in the first round.

The two fights were easier than expected for Mihtar, but for now, he’s simply focused on doing what his promoter Carlos Lianes tells him to do as he continues to build up his record for an eventual shot at a world title.

Mihtar realizes that people have questions about the level of competition he’s been facing but has no problem with it for now.

“It seems like people can never be happy,” he said. “I can fight a guy who’s 8-0 and knock him out in the first round and people will still ask when I’m going to fight somebody (good).”

That somebody just might come December 13th in another Fox Sports-televised event at the Ford Performing Arts Center in Dearborn, which could be the biggest fight in the history of the city. Mihtar has drawn a huge following, especially among Arab Americans, considering he is of Yemeni descent, and is regarded as one of the Detroit area’s top boxing prospects

Mihtar is already preparing for the fight, having sparred twice with current welterweight International Boxing Federation champion Kermit Cintron since defeating the McKechnie brothers and actually holding his own. Cintron told Mihtar after one recent session that he should have videotaped it because it was such a good match.

For now, however, Mihtar is taking the advice of his former training partner and current World Boxing welterweight champion Paul “The Punisher” Williams in regards to the task of building up his record in order to be considered a serious title contender.

“Plug your ears and you’ll have the last laugh,” Williams said.